Housekeeping Questions

1.. I am more clean than not and cluttered - but in an organized fashion.

2. I usually clean here and there every few days so that the house is always somewhat respectable in case company should pop in on a whim.

3. It depends on how anal and Type A one is. I think floors and rugs/carpet can be cleaned once a week - however, as I have 2 dogs - it's more like, I'm spot cleaning every few days (especially as it's muddy in the backyard).

4. I love cleaning the kitchen for some reason, I always feel so accomplished after the task is done. I love good sturdy sponges, wet wipes, and kitchen rags.

Hmmm....

I think I'm in the category of neat freak - BUT - I am also a minimalist and keep a clutter free home. I don't let magazines and newspapers pile up - I recycle them as soon as I'm done reading. And I don't like lot's of objects out and about. If I"m not using something, I get rid of it - via donation or passing on to a friend.

I generally vacuum, sweep the hardwoods, change the sheets and towels, and clean the baths (toilet, tub, mirrors, sink) once a week. It generally only takes about 45 minutes, tops. I mop the baths and the hardwoods (kitchen, too) about once a month.

I empty the trash several times a week in the baths.

Dusting is usually an every other week thing.

Cleaning the oven is generally every 3-6 months or on an "as need" basis.

On how important a clean house is - well on a scale of 1-10, probably a 8. I've always been neat though. Both of my parents are exactly the same! But, I don't spend in inordinate amount of time on it, either.

Favorite cleaning products...anything chemical free! You can find good prices on Method and Seventh Generation at Target or other Big stores.

We're also a two person household, and have a 3/2.

I love seventh generation!

It's kinda funny-I've been diagnosed with mild OCD but I swing toward the hoarding direction versus the neat-freak direction. My mom on the other hand is also OCD but she's the neat freak. It makes living together interesting.

1) I'm typically cluttered but cleanish, if only because I go back and clean up after myself. My place will look lived in.
2) I'll sweep, spot-clean the floor and counters and wash the dishes once a week (or more, depending). I don't have a tub so no go on that, I don't have a toilet brush (mom stole our only on when we moved and got separate bathrooms) and we rarely give the oven a scrub down. Tinfoil on the bottom for a reason. When I did have a tub, that'd be a once a month affair.
3) It doesn't need to be squeaky clean but it does need to be presentable. I'm not going to have guests over and have the house in shambles, for example.
4) For getting grime out between tiles-toothpaste! Also, magic erasers are a gift.

Granted when I'm clinically depressed this all goes out the window.

I'm a neat freak, clutter makes me feel really anxious and stressed out. I have two small children, so I feel like I am always cleaning, but really its not bad. I don't like to have anything out, like junk sitting on counters, mail or magazine stacks, laundry not folded and put away. All the kids stuff has a place it belongs, so it doesn't look like a daycare in our living room. Its a personal thing of course, but I really struggle to understand how having kids in an excuse to be messy! We have tons of fun, but always clean up at the end!

I typically clean the bathrooms 3 days a week, vacuming on those days as well, and the kitchen gets cleaned everyday. Trash is taken out nightly, as is recycling. On fridays I wash all the bed clothes, bath towels,rugs and the couch slip cover (its white!)

I'm very firm on making certain the house is tidy before my husband gets home from work. The kids know to walk around and pick up any toys, or whatnot that they forgot. I usually clean up my dinner prep mess, fluff the couch pillows and turn on the fireplace. Its a simple thing that we can do to welcome him home, and show we care about his day at work. Who wants to come home to a mess?

My fave cleaning products are, Bar Keepers Friend, Folex Carpet stain spray, Lysol Kitchen and Bath spray and BLEACH!!

www.joesgoals.com

List all your tasks and tick the option 'chain: longest gap' and chain: longest chain.'

It gives you 'points' each day, so you can see how well you're doing.

I use it for silly things like 'make bed', 'do laundry' and 'hoover'.

- Oh, also make a private tumblr (or another blog) and every so often upload photos of your rooms. I mean initially photos of it looking like an episode of Hoarders. It's somehow more shocking. Then clean the house and always look back at those photos to remind yourself what happens if you don't. I do this!

I am I clean freak 99% of the time.
I've been known to take a day off once in awhile.
My major cleaning, mopping, bathrooms etc I try to do once a week. Since I have a cat I tend to vacuum/sweep every day or every other day.
A quick daily clean up would maybe take an hr and include sweeping/vacuuming. Washing counters and dusting. And putting away clutter or my husbands messes lol

I am highly organized,bit of ocd, and things out of place bug me. Also clutter and unused spaces drive me nuts. I have maximized every inch of our new house and condense our stuff regularly :-)

On a day I clean from top to bottom it takes a couple hrs and ends up leading to reorganizing things which makes it last all day.

I do slack on cleaning the fridge and showers since it hurts my back but the rest stays pretty clean. People laugh when I say I cleaned because they never see a mess.

When I first hurt my back my brother came over to help me clean and could find anything he thought was dirty. Said he was pretend cleaning lmao

That's great how much you have lost! And enjoy your ability to move around again. Clean relieves stress for me and makes me feel productive which makes me happy. And never having to look or dig for something is really nice too :-) keep up the great work!

1.. Describe the kind of housekeeper you are

I'm a total slob.

2. How often do you do various chores, like mopping kitchen, cleaning oven, scrubbing toilet and tub, etc., and how long does it take you?

Weekly, over the course of Saturday/Sunday. It takes me all *kitten* weekend.

3. How important is keeping a clean house to you? Would you rather let it slide and do more fun things (I mean, really, does the floor have to be freshly mopped every day?), or do you really think it needs to be squeaky clean?

i'm happy if things just aren't disgusting. I live with 2 men, 2 kids, a 110lb fluffy dog, a cat, a rabbit, a dozen aquariums, and my own messy self. if you can walk into my home and it doesn't smell, isn't cluttered like an episode of Hoarders, and doesn't have visible grime on EVERY surface, then I'm content. when I have a light enough cleaning weekend, i'll do deep cleaning like pull out appliances, or *cringe* organize a closet. Those are the experiences of nightmares.

Nothing in my home has ever been "squeaky clean"

4. Do you have any favorite cleaning methods or cleaning products you would like to share?

I kick the men out of the house, coerce the kids into helping, and blast Jethro Tull. It's the only way to survive housework without killing myself.

I'd much rather do ANYTHING else but clean. In fact, I'm pretty sure I like working out more than I enjoy cleaning...and I hate working out with a passion that defies words.

But cleaning, like exercise, is an activity I have to engage myself in just to keep me and my family from falling apart.

Hey I got on!
Clutter is like a monkey on my back until it's put away, donated or dumped.
I prefer clean surfaces, and clean floors.
Having said that, I live in a relatively small home with my hubby a 15 & 17 year old.
Even though I often comment on the state of it's untidy ness, I am reassured when I see other people's homes so as my boys tell me our house is not untidy.
The bathroom, shower, toilet sinks etc are looking pretty over due when I get to them once a week. I often have to do the toilet/ vanity mid week. So that and the floors are a "Wednesday" job! - My day off. Dusting the living room also. I sometimes skip dusting in the bedrooms but It's on my mind each time I go in there!
The kitchen is cleaned after every meal and all surfaces wiped down. Just lately I have been in a ( bad habit of letting dishes air dry in the rack, but I prefer to tea towel them and put it all away.
I spend a lot of time cooking, everything from scratch so I often just clean up one lot and begin the next!
We don't have a dishwasher.
The patio - outdoor living room needs a sweep and a wipe down 2 x a week, mainly from leaves blowing in.
Beds are made each day and clothes hung or in wash bin. Washing is done 2/3 x a week. ironing once a week. ( Sunday afternoon)
Screens removes and scrubbed,and windows cleaned inside and out only done around 3 times a year, I'd like them done each season.
I'm much happier when my house is as I like it. The marks on the pale tiles irritate me if I don't get them mopped, once a week.
I clean the white leather couch every couple of weeks too or it looks greyish to me.
A small home looks bigger when it sparkles, and it closes in if it's cluttered.
Inside my pantry is all lined organized and lined up, also I have a method to how I hang my clothes and store my accessories. etc. Again I think if our house was bigger I might be a little more relaxed, but storage is at a premium.
My hubby is a neat person and the boys have to comply so there are never any wet towels on the floor etc. However on e of my sons has a bad habit of leaving every cupboard door open after he's been in there. Which I constantly call him back to look at the scene! This seems to amuse him.
If I was at home more i think I would maintain a really, really clean house. but working and juggling the kids stuff,and the cooking ( which I enjoy) seems to eat up my time.
If I'm entertaining want EVERYTHING done,all hands on deck!!
Not to mention the time I spend on MFP and Pinterest!

Congrats on your weight loss and your new life with more energy and movement!

I'm a clean freak, but not a minimalist. That said, there are more important things to me than spending all my time cleaning. My motto is this:

DO IT WELL & DO IT FAST

*** BEST how-to book: Speed Cleaning (by Jeff Campbell and the Clean Team).

*** Great website: Marla Crilley's www.FlyLady.com

*** Great book for those who live with stubborn family members: The House That Cleans Itself

Great way to minimize constant kitchen cleaning: Cook once a week or even once a month. Right now I do mostly weekly cooking. It maximizes healthy eating options and convenience plus it minimizes the cleaning time. There are a number of great websites on once-a-month (OAMC) and once-a-week (OAWC) cooking.

Most cleaning products are full of dangerous, toxic chemicals - better than salmonella or E. coli, but worse than dirt. White vinegar (not on marble) and baking soda are fabulous cleaners. Seventh Generation products don't work that well for me, though I do use them. Method products work fairly well. BarKeeper's Friend I rarely use, but it IS great for rust and other stains.

I clean the bathrooms twice a week and the kitchen after every meal. I hired a high school student to clean the bathrooms once a week as well. It gives her a job with a small income and gives me a little time to do something else I enjoy more for that hour or so.

One last thing: I make a game out of anything to compel myself to go faster and faster. If I can effectively scrub the tub in 5 minutes, can I do it in 4 the next time and still have it as clean? It makes things FUN and effective, and I get more time in the end to do things I would rather do than clean.

Enjoy your freedom!

I hate folding and putting away laundry. I have loads of clean laundry everywhere. It makes me look far messier than I am. When I put away laundry, the house is surprisingly clean.

I cook lots so I do lots of dishes. I have kids so always putting up toys and cleaning kid messes. I hate things really out of place in the living room, and I hate magazines and newspapers because they just look messy to me.

Once could say I spend half my day cleaning and it looks like I have done nothing because of my issues with putting away laundry.

We are by no means clean freaks. I have a dog, a cat, and 2 kids. Clean is what it was 5 mins ago when I finished it. That said, wifey usually does "something" daily. Toilets, bathrooms, mopping, dusting, vacuuming, etc. That way, when it's done, by the time you've made it through the rotation, it's time to do it again. I usually do the Carpet Steam cleaning every month or so on a weekend, and the dishes are done nightly before we go to bed. Other than that, the rest of it is cyceled through when we get to it. A lot of it also depends on how well behaved or not the kids. are. When not behaved, we have an exceptionally clean house that week.

1.. Describe the kind of housekeeper you are (neat-freak, weekly cleaner, clean sometimes, get behind on housework, or a bit of a messy).

2. How often do you do various chores, like mopping kitchen, cleaning oven, scrubbing toilet and tub, etc., and how long does it take you?

3. How important is keeping a clean house to you? Would you rather let it slide and do more fun things (I mean, really, does the floor have to be freshly mopped every day?), or do you really think it needs to be squeaky clean?

4. Do you have any favorite cleaning methods or cleaning products you would like to share?

1. I'm fairly neat. Definitely not a clean freak, but I like to have things organized. My significant other is much neater than I am, and he's probably rubbed off on me a bit.

2. It really doesn't take much time to keep things clean. I spend about ten minutes a day picking things up, plus ten or twenty minutes doing dishes after meals. If you make keeping things tidy part of your routine, it won't be a noticeable amount of time out of your day. Just get in the habit of putting things away one you are done using them!

Once a week I do a bigger clean (vacuum, scrub the toilets, wipe down countertops, etc). I probably spend an hour or two on that. Maybe once a month I will clean the windows and shower.

3. The floor doesn't have to be mopped every day. We probably clean the tile and hardwood once every two weeks and vacuum the carpets once a week. A few little spots don't bother me. However, if it's been longer than that, it does start to bug me. I'm very compulsive about keeping the kitchen and bathroom clean, although I tend to completely avoid cleaning the oven. It's my least favorite chore.

4. For our hardwood floors, I love Bona. It's like a Swiffer Wet Jet, but specifically for hardwood (they also have a tile formula). It has microfiber pads that you toss in the washing machine. It takes very little time - I can get the living room and dining room done in about five minutes. Speaking of Swiffer, I also love their dusters. I take five minutes every now and then to dust all the flat surfaces.

There is a cleaner called Barkeeper's Friend that I swear by. It was meant for cleaning kitchens and cooking tools, but can be used on just about anything. I've even scrubbed my bathtub with it. It's amazing. I also keep Clorox or Lysol disinfecting wipes on hand in the kitchen and bathrooms. You can wipe down the counters in a matter of seconds. It's an easy way to get cleaning into the daily routine.

Tip: I want to echo all the advice to check out FlyLady! It's all about starting small and building good habits. Like anything else, learning how to be organized can be a little overwhelming. Starting small and incorporating more positive changes can be a great way to get there. I wasn't always a tidy person, but I decided to make it a priority and add in one small (five or ten minute) chore each day.

For me, it depends on the room.
Kitchen and bathrooms MUST BE PERFECT.
As a result, my wife normally just backs away and I take care of these rooms.

As for the rest of the house, I like them "neat and orderly" but a far cry from a model home.
Because we have dogs, the floors downstairs are vacuumed/mopped every day. Upstairs MIGHT get a vacuum once a week or so.
As far as a lifestyle change goes, I totally understand that it takes more time to prepare a healthy meal but, please allow me to help:
1: Before getting started, lay out all of the stuff you are going to need. Salt, chicken, lemon, whatever an put it to the side (this keeps you from hunting in the middle of prep.
2: Grab a few small bowls and measuring cups so that they are also handy.
3: Once the meal is in the oven or wherever it is going, WASH THE DISHES ASAP!!!
You can have a clean kitchen and it is SO satisfying to step back, view the clean kitchen, and smell whatever it is that you are cooking.